


California Oranges

by mattygroves



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Episode Tag, Episode: s05e06 The Shrine, Future Fic, M/M, citrus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-10
Updated: 2016-09-10
Packaged: 2018-08-14 03:38:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7997206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mattygroves/pseuds/mattygroves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rodney let out a frustrated sound that brought the meeting to a grinding halt as everyone turned to stare at him, and Sheppard had the nerve to look up innocently through his lashes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	California Oranges

The crates of California oranges were a welcome relief to most of the Atlantis personnel on their second cold and drizzly January cloaked in San Francisco bay. There they sat, a bold splash of color on the wet West pier, as though Atlantis had been reading the fashion magazines that had been littering the mess and common areas the last couple years and decided it was time for her to start accessorizing. People grabbed each other in the hallways, pulling by the arms and hands out to hang over the balconies and watch the unloading. 

You would think they had forgotten the colorful holiday decorations that had covered every surface just a few weeks ago, a mix of Christmas and Hanukah, Kwanzaa and even a few Pegasus traditions thrown in because all the old crew was still homesick and ready to leave earth at a moment’s notice. There had also been a number of rainbow flags because they were so easy to get in San Francisco and a lot of people were still excited about the repeal finally taking effect last September. 

But the grey of January was enough to get the city’s inhabitants excited about oranges. John may have grinned at Rodney’s indignant squawk when the incoming shipment was announced at the morning meeting.

“We’re at sea, Rodney. You wouldn’t want us getting scurvy, would you?” he asked.

Rodney mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like, “I’ll show you scurvy,” but Woolsey cleared his throat meaningfully and changed the subject.

#

John did not tell Rodney about checking all the medkits in the common areas to make sure they were fully stocked with epi-pens in good working order. And he definitely didn’t mention the three he carried around in the chest pocket of his BDUs. Overkill? Perhaps. But McKay was a valuable member of his team.

#

The ultimate betrayal came when Rodney sat down at their usual team table to find John methodically peeling not one but five oranges on an otherwise empty tray. Rodney could see the fine spray from the peel and the juice dripping off his hand. 

“What are you doing?” he demanded, still standing.

“Satisfying a craving,” Sheppard smirked. “Don’t know when I’ll get another chance.”

Rodney pointedly sat down at the far end of the table and put an arm protectively around his tray to shield it. He glared at Sheppard over his blue Jell-O.

#

Tangerines came next, a deep dark orange that contrasted against the roiling dark of the winter ocean. These weren’t the bland Cuties soccer moms bought for lunch boxes; their taste was as deep as their color, sweet but tangy. And they were still pretty easy to peel. Sheppard stuffed his pockets in the morning and ate them all day.

Rodney glowered at him over his laptop as he peeled another in the morning meeting, carefully collecting the peel on paper napkin. And he must not have liked the white part, because he peeled that off methodically, too, string by string. Rodney let out a frustrated sound that brought the meeting to a grinding halt as everyone turned to stare at him, and Sheppard had the nerve to look up innocently through his lashes.

#

“Did I do something to make you mad?” Rodney finally asked a week later. “Because I don’t remember blowing up any solar systems recently so I can’t figure it out. And if this is about the other thing, you’re about three months late.”

“Maybe it has nothing to do with you, McKay.”

“It’s the whole Mitchell/lemon thing all over again, isn’t it? You’re just yanking my chain because you can?”

“No,” Sheppard said, extracting a tangerine from somewhere on his person and continuing down the hallway.

#

Teyla came to visit from Pegasus, bringing Ronon and Torren with her. They stayed for a month and it was almost like old times with team meals and movie nights peppering Rodney’s schedule. But apart from that John was still avoiding him, or at least being alone with him. He and Teyla would spend long hours sparring, both exiting the gym looking angry, leaving Rodney to wonder what they had argued about. And Teyla kept giving Rodney sad looks across the table in the mess, which usually led to John scowling and making up some excuse to leave, like needing to do paperwork, which to anyone who knew Sheppard was an obvious bald lie. So maybe it wasn’t that much like old times after all.

#

Eventually, the shipments of citrus petered out as spring drew near. A few boxes of avocados caused a frenzy in the mess, but Rodney felt vindicated over the ten he had managed to pocket and hide in his quarters. After all, he had missed out on the citrus orgy.

#

In April, Sheppard came by his lab—citrus free—and invited Rodney to meet him for beers on the pier that evening. It had been six months since Sheppard had done that. Rodney broke out in a nervous sweat as he remembered the last time they’d had beers on the piers and the reason their semi-regular meetings had come to an abrupt halt. 

#

When Rodney reached the pier, John handed him a beer and sat in silence for a long time. So long that Rodney started to fidget and peel the label on his bottle. It wasn’t Canadian, but it was pretty good.

“It’s local,” John said, answering Rodney’s unasked question. “Do you know how hard it is to find Californian beer that doesn’t have some kind of citrus in it? I tried a bunch over the last few months. There was one from Redlands made with orange blossom honey that was really good.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re not trying to kill me anymore,” Rodney said after reading the label carefully.

“I wasn’t trying to kill you before,” John responded, not turning toward him. They were facing the ocean rather than the bridge and city beyond, and the only light came from Atlantis at their backs. “I just wanted eat enough citrus to last a lifetime before I did this.”

“Did what?” 

And John kissed him, soft and sweet.

“You kissed me!” Rodney sputtered. 

“Yeah,” John said.

“No. You kissed me six months after I kissed you. What the hell?”

“You’d just broken up with Keller. I didn’t want to be your rebound.”

“I broke up with her because I realized I was in love with you.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh. You never gave me a chance to explain.”

“Well, you still have a tendency to rush into things.”

“I do not. It took me years to figure it all out. How you were the only one I remembered when the parasite was taking over my brain. That was when she fell for me, you know, because it made me sweet. I am not sweet! I’m arrogant and annoying and—”

John kissed him again, just to shut him up. It worked, and they were both a little breathless when John finally pulled away.

“You’re a good friend, Arthur,” he said with a grin.

Rodney punched his arm before grabbing him by the shirt and pulling him into another kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think in the comments, I love reading those. And kudos are great, too :D
> 
> It's Friday!! Fri-YAY!


End file.
